Tarmon Gai'don
Tarmon Gai'don, (pronounced: TAHR-mohn GAY-dohn) also called the Last Battle and The Time of Return by Darkfriends, is the apocalyptic confrontation between the Dragon Reborn, Rand al'Thor, and the Dark One that was prophesied to end the Third Age of the Wheel of Time. It was fought in 1000 NE in multiple fronts, mainly in the Borderlands, Shayol Ghul, Andor and Cairhien. All nations of the world took part, as did many non-national military organizations, such as the Children of the Light, and even non-militaristic such as the Tuatha'an, Ogier and the wolves. The end result was the destruction of the Shadow's forces by the forces of the Light through heavy loses by the former, and the re-sealing of the Dark One's prison. Background Prophecy The Last Battle was prophesied in several accounts of many people, the most central one being the Karaethon Cycle (The Prophecies of the Dragon), though other prophecies by different societies included their perspectives. According to prophecy, if the Dark One had prevailed he would have escape from his prison and remake all of time and space in his image. The forces of the The prophecies did not include a clear, specific outcome to the Last Battle, specifics of this eventuality, and it has proven a subject of some debate between philosophers. According to the Prophecies of the Dragon there are certain signs that will proclaim the imminence of the Last Battle. The rebirth of the Dragon is the earliest such sign, and others include the breaking of the Aiel and their return to the Westlands and the splitting of the Aes Sedai. It is also prophesied that the Seanchan and the Dragon Reborn will come to an accord, but the Prophecies are unclear in this regard: some have the Dragon Reborn kneeling in subjugation to the Crystal Throne, others say that he will bind the Nine Moons (the sigil of the Seanchan Imperial Court) to him; it is possible these conditions are not exclusive of one another. It is also possible that Ishamael may have tampered with the Seanchan version of the prophecies, or that Seanchans turned them into propaganda themselves. However, the Prophecies specifically state that the clearest sign of the Last Battle will be the return of the dead to plague the living. Early in 1000 NE inhabitants of the Westlands, possibly the whole world, began to see images of people long dead, sometimes just individuals but sometimes entire long-destroyed cities or towns that appear and then vanish. Around this time 'ripples' in the fabric of reality were detected, suggesting that the entire Pattern could unravel if the Dark One broke free of his prison altogether. Something that most of the prophecies and legends agree on is that the Dragon Reborn's blood must be on the slopes of Shayol Ghul and that the Dragon Reborn will break the world a second time, even if he is victorious. Theorizing about the Last Battle The nature of the Last Battle has been debated. Some have suggested a new version of the Trolloc Wars, with hordes of Shadowspawn pouring out of the Great Blight to overrun the world, along with the emergence in force of Darkfriends and Dreadlords to lead them. It is believed that wolves will fight alongside men and the dead heroes will return when the Horn of Valere is blown. Philosophers such as Herid Fel have debated an essential conundrum of the Last Battle, namely that the Dragon Reborn cannot simply re-patch the Bore because the Dark One's prison must be whole once more when the Wheel of Time turns and the Age of Legends comes again, when the Aes Sedai of that Age create the Bore in the first place. Herid Fel was investigating how this conundrum may be solved and had apparently come to an important conclusion involving 'clearing the rubble'; however, he was killed by the gholam before he could alert Rand al'Thor, suggesting the Shadow considered his conclusion to be highly dangerous. Both Min and Rand have taken his cryptic note to mean that the remaining seals must be destroyed before the re-sealing can proceed. Factions and Armies Forces of the Light The forces of the Light included almost all factions active on the westlands. The commander and chief of the armies was Elayne Trakand, and main general was Mat Cauthon. Other generals included Gareth Bryne, Rodel Ituralde, Agelmar Jagad, Davram Bashere, Lunal Galgan, Lan Mandragoran and the clan chiefs of the Aiel. *'Aiel' - technically all tribes were represented, though from the Shaido only those who have broke clan and detached themselves from the main clan, as there are no evidence of it taking part of the fighting in any of the fronts. The aiel fought both as part of the Siswai'aman and as separate clans. Wise Ones were also used as part of the Forces of the Light's channalers, and Gai'shain were used to help to treat wounded. The Aiel were spread out on almost all fronts, and were generally led by their clan chiefs. *'Seanchan' - though initially absent from the fighting, Empress Fortuona ordered the Seanchan armies to join the battle. The Seanchan committed large forces of foot, cavalry and air troops, as well as female channalers and special forces such as hordes of Corlm. The Seanchan forces were first led by Lunal Galgan, but the command was later on passed to Prince of the Ravens, Mat Cauthon, who passed it back to Galgan as he was put in command of all the forces of the Light. *'The White Tower' under the command of the Amyrlin Seat Egwene al'Vere committed both female channalers and a vast army under the command of Gareth Bryne, bolstered by Warders and the Tower Guard, led by Jimar Chubain. *'The Black Tower' - under the command of Logain Ablar, committed many male channalers. However, many Asha'man left the tower for the Shadow before the Last Battle and during its early stages. *'Borderlands' - tough first committing only a small force of Malkieri and supporters, all the borderlands armies later joined under the flag of Malkier. The army was led by Lan Mandragoran, which turn over strategy and tactical command to Agelmar Jagad, only later to replace him. *'Southern Kingdoms' - led by Andor, the southren kingdoms of Cairhien (now united with Andor under queen Elayne), Ghealdan (sworn to the lord of the Two Rivers, and thus to Andor), Illian, Tear, Murandy and Mayene all sent forces to the Last Battle. Mayene was also recruited as a remote hospital for the injured, due to its long distance from the fighting. The forces Andor, Cairhien, Mayen and Ghealdan were under the command of Davram Bashere, and later under the command of Birgitte Silverbow, before submerged to the command of Mat Cauthon during the final conflict. The armies of Illian, Tear and Murandy were under the command of Rodel Ituralde, and later on the command of their respective kings. *'Children of the Light' - led by the Lord Commander, Galadedrid Damodred, the Children of the Light joined the armies of Andor. *'Atha'an Miere' - committed both female channalers (Windfinders) and fighting forces. *'The Kin' - part of Andoran forces, the Kin committed many female channalers, though of varied strength. The kin were presumably led by Sumeko Karistovan. *'Band of the Red Hand' - led by Talmanes Delovinde joined the armies of Andor. The Band supplied both elite regular fighting forces and firearms provided by Aludra (dragons, dragons' teeth and so on). *'Wolf Guard and Two Rivers forces' - led by Tam al'Thor, the Two rivers forces and the army of mercenaries and refugees called the Wolf Guard joined the forces of Andor. *'Ogier' - initially joined the forces of Andor, and later on deployed in the Field of Merrilor. *'Legion of the Dragon' *'Tuatha'an' - though not a fighting force, the Tuatha'an helped the forces of the Light by searching for wounded on the battle field. *'Wolves' - though not led by anyone, the wolves led an attack on both Tel'aran'rhiod and Shayol Ghul against the forces of the Shadow. At least two Wolfbrothers were involved - Perin Aybara and Elyas Machera. * Dragonsworn - complementing the forces of the Light were many people of varied origin who were 'drawn' to the battle. These included villagers and other non-military folks, though also some aiel, soldiers, mercenaries, guards, nobles and even a few channalers of both sexes. *'Rand al'Thor' - the champion of the Light, fought the Dark One and Moridin at the Pit of Doom, with the aid of Moiraine Damodred and Nynaeve al'Meara. Forces of the Shadow The forces of the Shadow were comprised of a mixture of mainly shadowspawn and Sharans, with a heavy aid of Dreadlords. Some Darkfriends also infiltrated the forces of the Light and interrupted their plans. The forces of the Shadow were led by Demandred, and later by the Myrddraal and very shortly - by Moghedien. *'Shadowspawn' - the main force of the Shadow, which included of Trollocs, Myrddraal, Draghkar and (in Shayol Ghul) Darkhounds. At least five separate shadowspawn armies took part in the fighting on different fronts, but mostly in the Blight and the borderlands. Other shadowspawn was left in the Blight and did no engage in the main battles. *'Shara' - Sharan forces, led by Demandred, committed both large regular forces as well as male and female channalers. *'Dreadlords' - male and female channalers, of the black tower and Black Ajah respectively. The male channalers were led by M'Hael, though it is unclear how much control he had on the Black Ajah. *'Samma N'Sei' - including both regular forces and channalers. It is unclear who was in command of the Samma N'Sei, but it is possible that Graendal was at least partly in charge, as she was the Forsaken acting in Shayol Ghul, where the Samma N'Sei were used. *'Darkfriends' - infiltrating the forces of the Light, betraying them and disrupting their plans. Some, as the small force led by Daved Hanlon, were used as infiltrating force wearing false colors, while others were used in key events to sabotage the Light efforts. *'Slayer' - used in attempts to assassinate Rand from Tel'aran'rhiod. *'Forsaken' - each forsaken was a force unto itself, and deployed in various battle fronts. Moghedien was used to spy on the forces of the Light; M'Hael to lead the dreadlords (or, at least, the male ones) and fight the Light channalers who were not in Shayol Ghul; Graendal to fight in Shayol Ghul and influence the forces of the Light through tel'aran'rhiod; and Demandred as the general of the forces of the Shadow and commander of the Sharan forces. Moridin fought Rand in the Pit of Doom. Other forces in play Lanfear, though active during the Last Battle, seemed to be acting on her on through Tel'aran'rhiod. Though her intentions were to interfere in favor of the Shadow, she first acted to bring the Shadow very close to losing, in order to allow herself to 'save' it. Another force, acting against both Light and Shadow, was Shaisam - the entity that was took over Padan Fain. Using Mashadar to kill and then resurrect his enemies as minions, it attacked both armies at Shayol Ghul. Scope of the Last Battle The definition of the Last Battle in terms of time and place and agents involved is open for debate. In a broader sense one might say that the Trollocs army in Tarwin's Gap during 998 NE (which was destroyed by Rand al'Thor during his visit to the Eye of the World) was a skirmish heralding the main events of the Last Battles. This would mean the the Last Battle was fought for at least 2 years. However, that engagement seems too detached from the other assaults by the Shadow to be part of the Last Battle. Another problem is which theaters of war to include. For instance, the Trollocs who ambushed Tylee Khirgan and her Seanchan force in Altara after the Battle of Malden seems to be too far south, as no other major engagements with the Shadow occurred near by (the closest being the trap set for Perin in Ghealdan, foiled by the destruction of the Dreamspike). However, it is evident the Trollocs sent to invade Andor were part of the Shadow's forces in the Last Battle, even though they were separate from any other forces of the Shadow. The final question is the agents involved in the Last Battle, or, to be more precised, since when did they started taking part of the Last Battle. Logain Ablar, for example, was taken captive some time prior to the major conflicts, and released only after some of the fighting already have begun. The struggle in The Black Tower clearly had a great influence on the outcome of the Last Battle, but it is unclear if it was indeed a part of it, or 'just' something that happened during the same time. One might consider that struggle against with the one of Perin and Gaul in Tel'aran'rhiod against Slayer - Perin's struggle had a much clearer and direct connection to the outcome of the Last Battle. Since no precise answer can be found to any of these question, this article will include all 4 major invasions by Trollocs (and Sharans) and their paths as part of the Last Battle, as well as Perin's fight in Tel'aran'rhiod and the fighting in Shayol Ghul. This means that in the south the Last Battle started with the invasion of Caemlyn, and in the north with the attacks on Kandor and Saldaea. Events in the Blight and Mayene which have a clear and direct connection to the Last Battle will also be dealt with in this article. However, the struggle within the Black Tower will be seen as a separate occurrence, and will not be delved into. The battle between the Trollocs and the Children of the Light and Perin's forces, as well as Perin's struggle with Slayer just prior will also be excluded. Parallels Tarmon Gai'don is phonetically similar to the word and concept of Armageddon. es:Tarmon Gai'don Category:Concepts Category:New Era Category:Fourth Age